Because whoever invented it made it short. Who invented February?The Ancient Romans. Really?Yes, really. The word “February” comes from the Latin februare (meaning “to purify”) as February was the last month on the Roman calendar and contained the Roman feast of purification, Februa. So, the calendar started in march?Exactly. In fact, the names for September, October, November, and December are rooted in the Latin numbers septem (seven), octō (eight), novem (nine), and decem (ten) as they were the last of the ten months. Wait, what two months are missing?January and February. I thought february was a month.It is, but it wasn’t originally. See, the first Roman calendar had ten months loosely based on the lunar cycle, with six months of 30 days and four of 31. This worked for early Rome since the civilization was largely agrarian, with March beginning the planting season and December ending the harvesting season. The time in between was unimportant to the Roman farmer, so they didn’t bother naming it. So, where did february come from?A long process of calendar revisions. Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, created the months January and February to fill the winter, but there was a problem with the numbers. See, the Romans had a fear of even numbers. To remedy this, March, May, July, and October kept their 31 days, while January, April, June, August, September, and December went down to 29. February remained 28 to ensure there were an odd number of days in the year and became a month of purification. What happened to the 29-day months?Well, the calendar our friend Numa Pompilius came up with was still based on lunar months and only had 355 days, 10.25 days short of our solar calendar. These days started adding up, and eventually the calendar started not syncing up with growing seasons. Julius Caesar himself decided to fix this, creating a solar calendar comprised of January (31 days), February (28 days), March (31 days), April (30 days), May (31 days), June (30 days), July (31 days), August (31 days), September (30 days), October (31 days), November (30 days), and December (31 days). So, why is feBruary so short?February is short because it is traditionally the time of the Roman festival of purity, which was created because of a superstition of even numbers. Curious? Here's some more information!
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I don’t know. Honestly, it depends on your situation. Well, generally, what should i do first?Be familiar with your surroundings, especially any and all potential exits, not just the main one. You should also be alert for suspicious actions. Finally, don’t hesitate. While it can be hard to recognize the sound of gunshots, especially indoors, where someone dropping a binder can make a similar noise, generally gunshots will be repeated. Once you hear them, or see someone running away in panic, take action. So, running drills will be helpful, right?Wrong. A key component of survival is flexibility, and, when drilled with the same routine, any complications mixed with the panic of a life-or-death situation can be fatal. Additionally, many shooters are from within whatever community they attack, so drills could notify them of potential gathering places. However, it is important to have a plan of some sort and train personnel in charge of the safety of the group (security guards, teachers, administrators, etc.) what the procedures should be. It is also important that each person be educated on how to approach the situation and make the best plan possible, as the stress of such an event can make the brain not work to its fullest ability. is there anything i can do to make sure my brain doesn't Freeze up on me?Yes. Taking a few deep breaths always helps. Another strategy is to shift your emotions from fear of the shooter to anger, allowing you to remain in control of your thought processes. Whatever you do, don’t freeze up. Always take an action of some sort. Ok, then what do i Do when the shooter opens fire?Avoid the shooter/Evacuate. This goes back to finding any and all possible exits. Don’t stop for important belongings or injured individuals. While this may seem selfish, it is more important to escape in order to alert others in the vicinity and give emergency services enough time to arrive. Whatever you do, don’t pull the fire alarm, as this exposes people who would’ve been safer climbing out windows rather than going through fire exits and causes general chaos. In fact, the shooter last week in Parkland, Florida pulled the fire alarm for this very reason. Instead, yell “gun” as you run or notify the person in charge of such situations. Be sure to keep barriers between you and the shooter and run in a zig-zag to avoid injury. But what if i can't avoid the shooter?Deny access/Hide out. The first step of this is to make sure the shooter cannot see you. If possible, you should lock or barricade the door. Turn the lights off, silence your phone, and remain very still to keep the gunman off your trail. However, your hiding space should still, if possible, have an available exit of some sort in case you are found. So, I should play dead?No, absolutely not. While there are some success stories of this method, shooters generally tend to continue to shoot into people lying around. Even if you are injured, you should look for the most accessible hiding place/escape route and keep going. Then, what if i can't hide, or I'm trapped?Defend yourself/Take action. Remember that you have the right to do so; don’t feel bad. Be as aggressive as possible, using the objects in you surroundings, such as scissors or textbooks, as weaponry, and aim for spots such as the eyes, neck, and groin. I know it sounds ruthless, but remember, this is about not only your survival, but the survival of those around you. Everything you do counts and could save lives. If i have a gun, can i use it?You probably shouldn’t. See, when emergency personnel arrive, they are looking for a gunman. Holding your gun would make you fit this description. Obviously, this is circumstantial, but generally having a gun out at the location of a shooting should be avoided. What if someone i'm with is injured?Wait until you can address the injuries without jeopardizing your own safety. If hiding, only open the door when your sure the shooter is clear. Not doing so could endanger everyone in the room. For more intense injuries, try to apply a tourniquet, if possible, to slow the bleeding, but remember to be careful, as untrained people can cause harm in doing so. Worst case scenario, do whatever possible to limit blood flow, as people suffering from such injuries typically only have a few minutes to live. If someone only has a less severe injury, elevate the bleeding area and apply to help stop blood flow. It’s also important to have people run hands down their bodies to check for injuries, as people can be shot without even realizing in in such stressful situations. When do i call emergency services?As soon as it’s safe to do so. If you have safely evacuated, then call 911 immediately and answer any questions asked by the dispatcher. If you don’t know the answers, say so. It’s important for officers to know the situation they are heading into. If you are in a secure hiding place, then as soon as you deem it safe to do so. Remember to keep volume to a minimum. If necessary, turn the volume off and leave the dispatcher on speaker phone so they can hear the situation. What can i do when the police arrive?You should remain calm, listen to them, put down anything you have in your hands, and place your hands up with your fingers spread to ensure you aren’t perceived as a threat. You also shouldn’t shout at them or make sudden movements, as these actions could alert the shooter to your location. It is important to remember that the first officers on the scene aren’t there to deal with injuries, but to apprehend the shooter and make a safe path for rescue teams, who will then treat injuries. So, What should i do to surviVe a mass shooting?To increase your chances of survival, you should evacuate, hide out, and take action, in that order, contacting emergency services as soon as possible. ALERRT (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) uses the acronym ADD for Avoid, Deny, and Defend. Either way, when the time comes, all of the decisions made are up to you, and only you can ensure your survival. Don’t hesitate or freeze: use these guidelines and your own abilities save yourselves and others. CurIous? Here's some more information!
Because the IOC hasn’t added it. What's the IOC?The International Olympic Committee. They are in charge of planning the Olympic Games, ensuring everything runs smoothly, and making sure the games are the best and most fair possible for all parties, among other tasks. One such task is choosing what sports are open for competition every four years. so, what does a sport need to Qualify as olympic-worthy?According to the Olympic Programme Commission, the branch of the IOC that “has responsibility of analysing the programme of sports for both the Games of the Olympiad and Olympic Winter Games,” the sports included must:
Well, is snowshoeing too expensive/complicated/unpopular?No, no, and no. The basic set up for a snowshoe race is a lot of snow and a path of some sort. This is neither complex nor expensive when considering the fact that Olympic events such as cross-country skiing require a similar setup. As for its popularity, there were about 4,029,000 snowshoers throughout the US in the winter of 2012-2013 according to a SIA/Physical Activity Council 2013 Participation Study, published by Snowsports Industries America (SIA). This number surpassed the number of cross-country skiers (3,307,000) for the second year in a row. As cross-country skiing is a popular Olympic event, it makes no sense that snowshoeing is left out for these reasons. Then, does it lack a histOry or tradition?Absolutely not. Several native groups, particularly in the snowier parts of North America have been using snowshoes for literally thousands of years. The United States Snowshoe Association offers an in-depth look at how snowshoes have evolved, along with their purpose, over this time on their website. Is there an international sNowShoeing federation?Yes, there is. The International Snowshoe Federation (ISSF) is approved by the IOC and organizes events and competitions worldwide. So, it doesn't meet the reCommendations layed out in Olympic Agenda 2020.Actually, it does. In fact, snowshoeing is one of the many events included in the winter Special Olympics, which is guided by the same recommendations. Wait, then what's the problem?Money. While the official IOC website states “The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind, in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play,” they still need to make a profit in order to keep things running smoothly. Let’s face it: even I didn’t really care about snowshoeing being snubbed until I did my research. A majority of the games that have been recently added to the Olympic Winter Games originated in the Winter X Games and are a lot more popular with the youth of the world watching at home. While more people may be running around in snowshoes, even more people sitting at home on their couches want to see Red Gerard flip through the air during the snowboard slopestyle event. So, why isn't snowshoeing an olympic sport?Snowshoeing isn’t an Olympic sport because, while it meets the necessary criteria, it falls short in viewership popularity, which is where it really counts. curious? Here's some more info!
What do you mean? An African or European swallow? I don't know!Well, there are 75 swallow species spread throughout the world. Of these species, about 37 reside in Africa, with only the West African swallow and the South African cliff swallow bearing the continent's name. On the other hand, the barn swallow is also referred to as the European swallow, so it's pretty clear where to look for data. So, which one are we going to use?Given that there have been significantly more studies on barn swallows, we're going to take a look at the European swallow. Wait, what is airspeed velocity anyway?It's “the relative velocity between some object,” or, for our purposes, between the swallow and the air. so, how do we find it?We use the Strouhal number, which can be calculated for birds as wingbeat frequency multiplied by stroke amplitude all over cruising speed. Stroke amplitude can be found using the formula bsin(theta/2), where b is wingspan, or the length of the wings, and theta is the stroke angle, or the angle between the highest and lowest wingtips. Cruising speed is the speed of the bird through the air, and therefore is the airspeed Velocity. So, to find the airspeed velocity of a barn swallow, we must know its Strouhal number, wingspan, stroke angle, and wingbeat frequency. in order to maintain airspeed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times every second, right?Wrong. In fact, according to a 2002 study done on barn swallows and house martins flying in free flight and wind tunnels “Compared with other species of similar size, the swallow has quite low wingbeat frequency and relatively long wings.” The results of the study found that the wingbeat frequencies of barn swallows range from 2.5 to 8.4 times every second, not 43. For a nice estimate, we can use the median numbers of 6.95 and 7.07 beats per second. What about the other variables?Well, the wingspans of the two aforementioned swallows are 0.318 meters for Swallow 1 and 0.328 meters for Swallow 2. At this point, as a non-professional, I turned to the work of someone who really knows what they’re talking about. Professor Graham Taylor of Oxford University found the stroke angles of the two birds to be about 95 and 90 degrees, respectively. This allows us to calculate a stroke amplitude of about 0.23 meters for both birds. The last number we need is the Strouhal number. Lucky for us, Taylor found Strouhal numbers of 0.18 and 0.19, respectively for the birds. All that is left to do is to find the average airspeed velocity by adding the two resulting cruising speeds (8.89 meters per second and 8.86 meter per second) and dividing them by two. So, what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?About 8.8 meters per second, or 20 miles per hour. Now, you may cross the Bridge of Death (and there was much rejoicing). curious? Here's some more info!
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